Supreme Court Denies Maryland Appeal Of Drug Price-Gouging Law

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a Maryland appeal to uphold the state's law against pharmaceutical price gouging. The high court on Tuesday denied Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh's appeal without comment, letting a lower court ruling against the law stand.

The law approved in 2017 enabled the state's attorney general to sue makers of off-patent or generic drugs for price increases that state officials considered "unconscionable." That was defined as an excessive increase, unjustified by the cost of producing or distributing the drugs.

The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 last year that the law was unconstitutional, because it forces manufactures and wholesalers to act in accordance with Maryland law outside of the state and burdened interstate commerce.